DUNDALK CAN NO longer count on the element of surprise as they bid to shock Dutch Eredvisie side AZ Alkmaar in the first group game of the Europa League, says manager Stephen Kenny.
The Lilywhites boss believes that the Dutch side will consider themselves clear favourites in tonight’s Group D opener (6pm Irish time) as they will take to the field for their first ever group stage European game.
Speaking to the media yesterday, Kenny believes that while being an unknown quantity may have helped them beat sides like Hajduk Spilt and BATE Borisov over the past two years, it no longer counts in their favour.
“I think they will expect to win convincingly,” said the 44-year-old. “They will have watched our videos against BATE and they’ll know that we’ve beaten BATE 3-0. They’ll know Legia was a close run thing. So I think that will eliminate some of the surprise.
“I think most neutrals would think we have very little chance of making it through,” he adds, of a group that also includes Zenit St Petersburg and Maccabi Tel Aviv. “Of course, they would feel the others are much bigger clubs. They would see it as a formality that we will be bottom of the group. That is the reality.”
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Stephen Kenny (file photo). PA Wire / Press Association Images
PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
As has been the case in Europe this season and across the last three campaigns on the domestic front, Dundalk’s approach has been to attack and not alter the way they play against different opponents.
Despite the high profile of the match and the calibre of the opposition, Kenny maintains that won’t change tonight.
“Certainly our approach won’t be to sit back and contain. That’s not our intention. I can’t say that won’t happen at times. There is no point in me talking completely unrealistically. There is an opportunity for us to get hold of the ball in the way we can and pass the ball the way we can.
We will have a lot of periods of possession if our movement is good and we try to control the game. Our defence will have to defend well,” he continued.
“The way they set up and the way we set up means we will be four-on-four at times. But that will give us an opportunity to numerically be better in midfield as well and that is where we have had advantages over teams, in that we’ve been able to get a lot of passing in the midfield area.”
AZ's AFAS Stadion. PA Archive / Press Association Images
PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
Dundalk arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday afternoon to sweltering conditions – and forecasts suggest that the temperature could be as high as 28 degrees for tonight’s kick-off.
Could the heat work against the Irish side?
It’s not something I had thought about initially when the draw was made,” Kenny said. “Israel maybe, but it was not something I thought about much. This week I realised it could be a factor. When you get off the plane it really hits you. We’ll do whatever we can to prepare our players.”
Around about 800 Dundalk fans are due in the AFAS Stadion and with a projected overall crowd of around 10,000 expected, it’s a sizeable away contingent to have in the ground.
Kenny feels that can be of some advantage to his side as they bid to spring a surprise. “A big crowd helped us in Iceland too. It wasn’t such a big crowd overall so they could make their presence felt even more. We were 2-1 down in the second half and that’s why we’re here today.
That wasn’t always the case. I said to the players ‘this is a different Town today to what it was a couple of years ago’. You can go from 231 to 25-30,000 people at the FAI Cup final.
“That’s the nature of it. It can change quickly like that. We’re going to places like Belarus and Poland and now here, good arenas. We’ve six great matches to look forward to and that’s only a good thing.”
For Dundalk, Darren Meenan is the only injury doubt among the travelling party. The winger aggravated a groin injury against Sligo last week and hadn’t trained with the team prior to flying out.
Stephen O’Donnell, Brian Gartland and Ronan Finn – all rested on Monday against Finn Harps – are expected to come back into the side.
– An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that tonight’s game kicks off at 7pm Irish time; kick-off is at 6pm Irish.
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Dundalk no longer an unknown quantity as they embark on Europa League adventure
Barry Landy reports from Alkmaar
DUNDALK CAN NO longer count on the element of surprise as they bid to shock Dutch Eredvisie side AZ Alkmaar in the first group game of the Europa League, says manager Stephen Kenny.
The Lilywhites boss believes that the Dutch side will consider themselves clear favourites in tonight’s Group D opener (6pm Irish time) as they will take to the field for their first ever group stage European game.
Speaking to the media yesterday, Kenny believes that while being an unknown quantity may have helped them beat sides like Hajduk Spilt and BATE Borisov over the past two years, it no longer counts in their favour.
“I think they will expect to win convincingly,” said the 44-year-old. “They will have watched our videos against BATE and they’ll know that we’ve beaten BATE 3-0. They’ll know Legia was a close run thing. So I think that will eliminate some of the surprise.
“I think most neutrals would think we have very little chance of making it through,” he adds, of a group that also includes Zenit St Petersburg and Maccabi Tel Aviv. “Of course, they would feel the others are much bigger clubs. They would see it as a formality that we will be bottom of the group. That is the reality.”
As has been the case in Europe this season and across the last three campaigns on the domestic front, Dundalk’s approach has been to attack and not alter the way they play against different opponents.
Despite the high profile of the match and the calibre of the opposition, Kenny maintains that won’t change tonight.
“Certainly our approach won’t be to sit back and contain. That’s not our intention. I can’t say that won’t happen at times. There is no point in me talking completely unrealistically. There is an opportunity for us to get hold of the ball in the way we can and pass the ball the way we can.
“The way they set up and the way we set up means we will be four-on-four at times. But that will give us an opportunity to numerically be better in midfield as well and that is where we have had advantages over teams, in that we’ve been able to get a lot of passing in the midfield area.”
Dundalk arrived in Amsterdam on Wednesday afternoon to sweltering conditions – and forecasts suggest that the temperature could be as high as 28 degrees for tonight’s kick-off.
Could the heat work against the Irish side?
It’s not something I had thought about initially when the draw was made,” Kenny said. “Israel maybe, but it was not something I thought about much. This week I realised it could be a factor. When you get off the plane it really hits you. We’ll do whatever we can to prepare our players.”
Around about 800 Dundalk fans are due in the AFAS Stadion and with a projected overall crowd of around 10,000 expected, it’s a sizeable away contingent to have in the ground.
Kenny feels that can be of some advantage to his side as they bid to spring a surprise. “A big crowd helped us in Iceland too. It wasn’t such a big crowd overall so they could make their presence felt even more. We were 2-1 down in the second half and that’s why we’re here today.
“That’s the nature of it. It can change quickly like that. We’re going to places like Belarus and Poland and now here, good arenas. We’ve six great matches to look forward to and that’s only a good thing.”
For Dundalk, Darren Meenan is the only injury doubt among the travelling party. The winger aggravated a groin injury against Sligo last week and hadn’t trained with the team prior to flying out.
Stephen O’Donnell, Brian Gartland and Ronan Finn – all rested on Monday against Finn Harps – are expected to come back into the side.
– An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that tonight’s game kicks off at 7pm Irish time; kick-off is at 6pm Irish.
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